Summary

In 2020, the author embarks on a challenge to create 2,020 videos to explore the profitability and practicality of being a prolific video content creator in a rapidly growing video market.

Abstract

The author, recognizing the explosive growth of video content consumption, particularly on YouTube, sets a personal goal to produce 2,020 videos in the year 2020. This challenge is designed to test the effectiveness of being prolific in content creation, as unpredictable market demands and news events can suddenly make even simple video clips valuable. The author plans to share insights on equipment, processes, and strategies for creating diverse video content for various platforms, including stock video licensing marketplaces and social media. By documenting this journey, the author aims to demonstrate that high-quality video production is accessible to anyone with modern technology, such as DSLRs or smartphones, and that even historical film archives can be leveraged for profit in the current content landscape.

Opinions

Video content is identified as one of the fastest-growing content types, with YouTube being the second largest search engine globally, indicating a significant opportunity for content creators.
The author believes that the rise of mobile usage has contributed to the increased consumption of video content, with 70% of YouTube's traffic coming from mobile devices.
There is an emphasis on the importance of having a large portfolio of video content to capitalize on unexpected trends, news events, and market needs.
The author suggests that being prolific in content creation can lead to unexpected financial gains, as demonstrated by their own experience with a simple clip of a garbage truck that became profitable due to a sudden market shift.
The challenge is not just about creating new content but also about repurposing historical film archives, which the author sees as a potentially lucrative venture in the age of documentary film resurgence.
The author posits that professional-level video equipment is not a prerequisite for success, as modern DSLRs and smartphones can produce footage suitable for various platforms, including feature films and YouTube.
By inviting others to join the challenge, the author encourages a community approach to content creation and sharing of experiences to mutually benefit from diverse insights and strategies.

The 2020 Video Challenge

The 2,020 Video Challenge of 2020

Can I make 5.5 videos a day, and will it help me be a prolific video creator?

I should shoot more video. Heck, we should all shoot more video.

Video is one of the fastest-growing content types in the world. Google remains the top search engine in the world. But guess what comes in second. Not Bing, Yahoo, or Google’s other competitors, but YouTube.

People watch a remarkable quantity of YouTube videos — more than 1 billion hours of them per day. That’s more than all the videos on Facebook and Netflix combined. A lot of this is driven by mobile — videos work great on mobile phones, and 70% of YouTube’s traffic comes from mobile devices.

New Markets

YouTube is a huge opportunity for marketers, but it’s hardly the only place where video does well these days. With money from new players like Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu going towards content, we’re seeing a major resurgence in video all over the content market. Documentary film, in particular, has been growing dramatically as filmmakers have found ideal homes for their work (and ideal funders) at these new tech-driven production companies.

All of this trickles down into other areas of the video market, too. YouTube’s dominance means that more media outlets are focusing on creating videos, both for their own platforms and to place on YouTube.

In my own industry — stock media licensing — footage enjoys strong sales as more and more media companies create video news broadcasts, video journalism, and more. These are designed to be easily cut up into clips and shared on YouTube and other social media, building awareness of the companies’ shows and brands.

The rise of citizen journalism and user-generated content has had a huge impact, too. Now that everyone has a phone, breaking news events are captured in real-time, often from multiple angles. This allows for coverage of events that would never have been possible before. And it drives demand for more video from pros to fill in the gaps in citizen-generated content.

After the attack in Charlottesville, Virginia, for example, VICE News produced a brilliant segment, which combined user-generated videos shot at the scene by protesters with professional video, as well as their own produced work, like interviews and background coverage.

The result was a raw and powerful hybrid of reporting, citizen journalism, and professional content. We’re going to see more and more of these hybrid stories, especially from cutting edge companies like VICE. And they’re going to need more and more video from pros to make it happen.

The 2020 Project

In this growing market for video content, all marketers should make video part of their plan. Whether you’re promoting a product, marketing a brand, or are a photographer or videographer selling your own work, video should be a core piece of the collateral you generate in the years ahead.

That’s why, in 2020, I’m challenging myself to make 2,020 videos.

In another article, I talked about the value of being prolific. In today’s content marketplace, it’s hard to predict winners in advance. And it’s hard to know what will sell until something starts to trend, a news event happens, etc.

To get the most value out of any content type — and video, especially — you need to have a lot of videos in your personal portfolio, or your brand’s arsenal.

Here’s an example. In 2018, I was walking around with my camera when I saw a Waste Management garbage truck picking up curbside bins. I shot a quick video clip of the pickup.

I think you’ll agree it’s a pretty basic clip — it’s definitely not going to win a Pulitzer. But right after I shot it, there was a major shock in the world recycling market, and the clip was suddenly very useful. It has sold several times, for a total of $1,000+ in gross revenue, since I shot it.

There’s no way I could have anticipated a shock to global recycling markets in advance— that’s way above my pay grade. But because I had the clip already shot and ready to go, I could profit from it the second those news events happened.

Other outlets were scrambling to film something relevant to the recycling industry, while I was lounging about and collecting royalties (okay, actually I was probably out shooting more videos).

That’s why it pays to be constantly generating content — to be prolific. It’s a way to profit from today’s content landscape, even when you have no idea exactly what will sell in advance.

That’s great, right? “Be prolific” makes a nice Medium headline or a slightly bizarre motivational desk sign, but how do you actually do it? How can you shoot enough content — cheaply enough — to profit from unexpected customer needs, news events, trending topics, etc? How does the rubber actually meet the road?

Join me

By challenging myself to make 2,020 videos in 2020, I’m going to experiment with this concept, and test out the best equipment, processes, topics, and strategies for shooting a ton of quality content in a short time.

And I’m going to take you along for the journey, sharing my progress, observations, and results in a monthly column here in Better Marketing.

My videos will be designed for several different markets — my no-longer-secret YouTube channel, stock video licensing marketplaces, social media, etc. That will allow us to explore together how video can be produced and marketed on tons of different platforms.

Note that I said “make”, and not “shoot.” In addition to doing contemporary news coverage, my company purchases and digitizes historical film archives. So I’ll be talking about that, too, and how historical and archival video can be a wildly profitable addition to a company’s video portfolio — especially with the growth in documentary film. If your organization has some historical film sitting around, now might be a great time to integrate it into your next campaign.

Am I some video maven, with tons of expensive equipment you could never afford? No. Again, I’m a professional photographer. Video is a secondary capability for me.

And that’s important because video is a capability that’s accessible to nearly everyone in the marketing world. Have a modern DSLR? You can shoot footage that’s good enough to go into a feature film. Just have an iPhone? You can still shoot smooth 4K video that’s plenty good enough for YouTube, social media, and even some limited stock footage usages.

I do have some video-specific equipment, but most of my video is shot on my cameras, my phone, and other devices designed for another purpose. I sometimes edit clips, but I don’t use anything fancier than what you get with a subscription to the Adobe Creative Cloud.

In short, I’m not a video specialist, and I’m not using inaccessible equipment or software. If I can do this, you can do it too.

So come with me on this journey to 2,020 videos. Let’s see exactly what it takes to be prolific, and learn about different video types, markets, and tools along the way.

Hopefully, I’ll meet my goal, and we can celebrate at the end of 2,020. But if I don’t, I promise that I’ll share why, so you can see exactly what happened to my experiment, and take home some lessons for your own video strategy.

You can even follow along, too, if you’d like. Use the response section on my posts to share the videos you’ve created. If you make more videos than me in 2020, maybe I’ll send you a little something, or at least transfer full bragging rights!

2020 is going to be a great year. Let’s dive in, get out the camera, and start shooting video!